I was just wondering if anyone knew any in-depth information about hock injections/stifle injections. I've ridden tons of horses who have needed them, and I know of many more require them - and I believe that whatever they inject them with honestly works great. However, I was wondering how often horses typically need the injections (lets say, a horse who is being ridden very consistantly and jumping around 3' - 3'6, showing, etc.) and how much each session of injections costs. This is just for research and personal knowledge information, nothing major. thank you!

Ryle

11-16-2007 11:45 PM

How often a horse will need hock or stifle injections depends very much on the specifics of each situation---the severity of disease in the joint, the amount of work and the footing it which it's done and the attitude of that particular horse (some are more sensitive than others). That being said, it's fairly common to have horses do well for 5-7 months after joint injections, especially if the owner is also using Adequan intramuscular injections in between joint injections to help promote better joint health. The cost of joint injections depends on exactly which and how many joints are being injected, but expect to pay for sedation and somewhere around $80-$100 per joint for injections as this is a very time consuming and supply consuming procedure by the time you have clipped and surgically prepped each injection site. It was not uncommon to see competition horses come in and run up a $400-$500 bill every 6 months for joint injections at the equine hospital.